Bird 'black market' discovered: 7 investigated. Captured and resold in shops. The raid after 2 years of investigation. Natural and artificial decoys to capture finches. On the move from Campania to Puglia to Calabria. 'Relay cars' used to avoid controls. Turnover of 350 thousand euros per year. 11.000 specimens every year.
At the end of a complex investigative activity coordinated by the Public Prosecutor's Office of Santa Maria Capua Vetere, the military personnel of the Anti-poaching and Crimes against Animals Operations Section of the CITES Carabinieri Group and of the CITES Carabinieri Nucleus of Naples, assisted in the executive phase by the military personnel of the Forestry Carabinieri Group of Naples and Latina and of the Provincial Command of Naples, have executed an order issued by the investigating judge of the Court of Santa Maria Capua Vetere regarding 7 personal precautionary measures.
Birds captured and resold in shops: The blitz after 2 years of investigation. From Campania to Puglia to Calabria using natural and artificial decoys to capture finches. 'Relay cars' used to avoid controls. Turnover of 350 thousand euros per year
The subjects addressed by the order are seriously suspected of the crime of criminal association "for having formed a stable association with the aim of committing an indeterminate series of crimes relating to the use of 'courier cars' to avoid checks
the illicit trade (receiving of stolen goods, art. 648 of the Criminal Code) on the national territory of protected and particularly protected avifauna under the Berne Convention, originating from illicit capture (hunting theft)”. The overall investigation activity has allowed us to uncover a large illegal trade in a large number of birds belonging to protected species, which were systematically captured by some of the suspects in various parts of southern Italy, using illegal methods (traps, acoustic decoys and so on), and subsequently kept in improvised warehouses, in conditions of such discomfort as to cause them evident suffering, and finally sold on the black market both to private individuals and to a stable group of compliant traders, some of whom came from northern Italy.
The execution of the precautionary measures is the epilogue of a complex investigation activity, started in 2018, which allowed to identify the subjects involved, to outline the extent of the phenomenon and to reveal the existence of a ramified criminal organization. The associates, through prohibited and indiscriminate removals of thousands of specimens of protected and particularly protected birds, fueled the illegal market on the national territory, of live avifauna for decoy and ornamental purposes, with the related impoverishment of the avifauna and consequent significant environmental damage in terms of loss of biodiversity and alterations of the existing relationships between living species and their habitats, caused by illegal human activity, with a danger for the balance of the ecosystem and consequent incalculable damage to the environmental heritage.
In light of the activities carried out and the feedback received, the phenomenon appears to be well-established in the Campania region. The finch trade is a very thriving market because the best specimens, that is, the most singing ones, have a high market value. The “modus operandi” adopted by the subjects involved in the investigation in question has highlighted many similarities with that put into practice in other Italian regions, namely the simultaneous use of natural decoys (with live subjects of capture) and artificial ones (magnetic or electronic) reproducing the classic song of finches (methods prohibited by articles 21 and 30 of Law 157/97), which are positioned on the ground near bird trapping nets or nylon nets, sometimes with a snap action (also prohibited) and have the purpose of attracting specimens of the species. Usually, at the point where the sound source originates, it is also easy to find some bait to attract and accustom the birds to the place where the nets will then be positioned; grazing areas that vary from agricultural land to marginal areas of the woods depending on the species to be caught.
From the technical activities carried out, it clearly emerged that the suspects had a deep knowledge of the places where they would carry out their illicit practice and how all the associates had constantly frequented those places in order to prey on wild avian fauna and protected species sought on the black market. The actors in these illegal bird capture actions were willing, thanks to the equipment, time and means available, to reach locations very distant from their residences within a radius of hundreds of kilometers: parades were monitored in Calabria, in the province of Cosenza, but also in the province of Salerno and in Puglia, especially in the province of Foggia, and last but not least the province of Potenza. The evidence collected has demonstrated the existence of a supply network for bird trapping towards the Campania region and Northern Italy, the prediction of the means and vehicles needed for transport, the identification of a place/depot where the prey was stored while waiting for transit, the existence of an internal supply network in case of need, the creation of surveillance and lookout machines for significant transports and the possibility that wild animals were ringed with the connivance of professionals (breeders and veterinarians) for the creation of documentation to accompany subsequent sales.
From the investigation documents, in particular from the searches and seizures and from the observation and interception services, the characteristics of a criminal agreement to commit an indeterminate series of criminally relevant conducts have clearly emerged. In particular, particular care and attention on the part of the organization can be noted during the movement of both the loads of birds and during the approach of the associates to the warehouses or exchange places through the use of relay cars and courtyards sheltered from view and easily kept under control. The interceptions have also demonstrated the importance of creating a complex network of suppliers and buyers and the establishment of a plurality of groups, capable of operating both among themselves and with other buyers, sometimes stealing them from other organizations.
The economic benefits resulting from the criminal activity carried out were immediate and direct, favoring and consolidating the illicit enrichment. In fact, from the intercepted communications and the seizures carried out, it was possible to estimate the number of plundered birds at around 2.750 units for the period under investigation, which projected on an annual basis comes to be quantified in 11.000 specimens each year, with a turnover of wild bird trafficking quantifiable in approximately 350.000 euros per year.
APPLICATION OF COERCIVE MEASURE OF HOUSE ARREST
l. MADDALUNO Pasquale, born in '61
2. ELEPHANT Giovanni, born in '68
OBLIGATION TO RESIDE IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF RESIDENCE AND
PRESENTATION TO THE JUDICIAL POLICE
3. CUOZZO Gennaro alias “0′ FISSATO”, BORN IN '49
4. ERRERA Dario, born in '86
5. ESPOSITO Corrado, born in '58
6. SIMEONE Damiano, born in '82
7. MUSELLA Antonio known as “Tonino”, born in '68
Article published on 9 September 2020 - 12:11
